Pietro was
transferred to Florence and after a short time they allowed him a short two week
vacation.

Pietro
Gentile left immediately for Settefrati. He held Francesca in his arms again and
told her that he wanted to get married right away, that he would never leave her
again. The young girl started to organize everything for the imminent wedding.
It was not possible to have the wedding that she had always dreamt of. But for
her, it would be the most beautiful wedding of any girl in town. In the mean
time Pietro went to inform the priest of his intentions. There was still war in
Settefrati and it was absolutely prohibited for a soldier to get married while
he was still in service. The priest told him that it was impossible and that
they could not get married without the permission of the military officers.

But Pietro
did not give up and explained the situation to the priest and told him that if
the priest did not marry them, he would take Francesca with him without his
blessing, and he was also ready to pay the tribute, the “fee” that every couple
used to pay the priest when they got married: not one but two chickens. The
abbot consulted the prelate and told him about the two chickens that had been
promised. And since hunger and poverty do not know laws or war prohibitions and
do not disappear even in front of an armed force, the two priests decided that
it would have been a serious misdeed not to marry the couple in front of the
Altar, in front of God and in front of witnesses with the Holy Blessing. On
February 1st 1945 ,Francesca and Pietro were married in the church that had
been damaged by the war.

Pietro
knew that he would remain in Florence for six months and decided to take
Francesca with him. But it was absolutely prohibited for soldiers to transport
civilians in military vehicles. Pietro had gone to Settefrati with his friend
Tommy in a military truck. They came up with the idea of having Francesca wear a
military uniform and travel in the back of the truck. And so they did, and left
for Florence with Francesca as a soldier. The two friends would take turns
driving. When they were halfway there, they ran across a brigade of American
soldiers. Luckily the soldiers did not check the truck and they were able to get
to Florence without any major incident. Francesca went to live at the house of
some friends for the entire time that Pietro was stationed in Florence. In May
of 1945, the war was over in Europe. Pietro was given ten days of rest and
recovery. During this time, Pietro went back to Settefrati with Francesca.

He
remained with her a few days and then was transferred to Austria. But now
Francesca was pregnant.

In those
few days that Pietro was in Settefrati, Pietro was lucky enough to see his old
friend Domenico again, having survived his experience in Sicily. Domenico had
gone back to his family with a nice amount of money that he had made while he
was working for the Americans in Sicily.

In January
1946, Francesca gave birth to a little boy and called him Ralph.In the meantime
Pietro had returned to America with the American Army. When he finally arrived
home in Stamford, he immediately started working on the papers to bring
Francesca. Because he had become an American citizen when he joined the Army and
he had served the Army with honor, the papers were processed right away and
without problems. He wrote to Francesca telling her that soon they would be
together forever.

Francesca
was uncomfortable and did not know what to do in America and the unknown scared
her. But she knew that Pietro was waiting for her and that he had done a great
deal of planning for their future. Pietro reassured his young wife and told her
not to fear anything because everything would be alright. In America, she would
meet his parents that were waiting anxiously for her.

They had
prepared a nice little house for her and the baby. Then he wrote to her to come
without worries because in America she would find money in the streets.

Francesca
and Ralph arrived in America on May 17th 1946.

Before
they came, Pietro had opened a chicken shop. His entire family was working in
the shop: his father, his mother and his brother.

Francesca
was warmly welcomed by the entire family. After a year, the couple had two twin
girls. Francesca could rely on the help of the relatives that were living in the
same house to take care of the twins and when she could, she would go and help
in the shop. Pietro and Francesca lived happily for many years.

Still
today, Pietro lives in the same house that belonged to his parents, next to the
chicken shop. Francesca is gone; she died years ago leaving a huge emptiness in
the entire family. They had hoped to return together to Settefrati for a visit.
To see the little old town again, the fields where they had worked, the olive
tree groves, the mountains. But like all plans that are postponed for days,
months and years, so their dream never came true. Pietro has never seen the town
since that far off day in 1945.